Winners and Losers from Falcon's 14-9 loss to Vikings

The Atlanta Falcons needed to win against Minnesota to keep pace in what is shaping up to be the NFL’s most competitive division. Instead, they fell to 7-5 after losing to the Vikings 14-9.

Here are our winners and losers for this week.

Winner: Devonta Freeman

After missing two games from the concussion from Week 10, Freeman looked fresh and ready against the Vikings. He averaged just over six yards per carry and even caught a seven-yard pass on a crucial late drive. The Falcons needed to get him the ball more.

Loser: Matt Ryan

In what was arguably his worst game of the season, Ryan hit just 57 percent of his passes for 173 yards. The Falcons were only averaging 5.8 yards per attempt on passing plays and just couldn’t connect well in the passing game. Ryan has to be more accurate through the last four games or the Falcons may not make the playoffs.

Winner: Atlanta’s offensive line

The running game averaged 4.8 yards per carry on designed runs and didn’t allow Ryan to get sacked all game. There was no excuse to go away from the running game the way it did, though. Atlanta’s offensive line was having its way with the Vikings defense and could have forced even more chunk plays if Steve Sarkisian had stuck with the run.

Loser: Matt Bryant

While Bryant did hit 3-of-4 field goals, missing the final field goal attempt hurt the Falcons tremendously. Had he converted, the Falcons would have had a much better chance to rally.

Winner: Ricardo Allen

When the Falcons needed a stop at the most crucial time, they got it from Allen. “Rico” has been exceptional this season in what has been a crucial year for his contract negotiations. He had two open-field tackles that were vital on a fourth-quarter drive.

Loser: Vic Beasley

For some reason, the Falcons defense continually dropped Beasley back into coverage, and the Vikings ate him alive with running back routes to the flats. He was unable to come up and make tackles one-on-one in the open field, and this allowed the Vikings to get big plays when they needed them.